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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Gortyna |
|---|---|
| Year | 330 BC - 270 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hemidrachm (1/2) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΛΟΡΤΥΝΙ |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Gortyna was one of Crete's most powerful poleis during this period, its coinage reflecting an independent mint tradition that drew little from Aegean or mainland Greek conventions. The city's issues circulated primarily within the island's internal economy, where inter-polis trade and mercenary pay drove demand for fractional silver. Cretan cities supplied mercenaries extensively to Ptolemaic Egypt and various Hellenistic courts through the third century, and hemidrachms like this one were practical denominations for exactly that kind of wage settlement.
Svoronos remains the foundational reference for Cretan coinage, his classification still unchallenged in its broad strokes despite being over a century old.